


Death-defying

by halfeatenmoon



Category: Star Wars (Marvel Comics), Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-03
Updated: 2019-05-03
Packaged: 2020-02-16 20:58:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18699022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/halfeatenmoon/pseuds/halfeatenmoon
Summary: Aphra was prepared to face Tolvan again, no matter what Tovlan's reaction was."Aphra. You're... not dead."She had, however, hoped for a little bit more of a reaction than that.





	Death-defying

**Author's Note:**

  * For [weakinteraction](https://archiveofourown.org/users/weakinteraction/gifts).



Doctor Aphra had imagined her reunion with Magna Tolvan a lot of different ways in the time they'd been apart. She imagined it every moment that she wasn't either scheming to swindle someone or scheming to get herself out of certain death. There was the fantasy where Tolvan kissed her passionately and cried with relief; the more realistic fantasy of Tolvan snarling and having her locked up; the, er, honest version where Tolvan tried to punish her and Aphra tried to pretend she felt no guilt until she finally broke down and apologised. Or, more likely, run away.

No, no running away. Not this time. She was tired of running, and tired of lying, or at least tired of lying to people she cared about. She wanted to have one honest relationship in her life. She was ready to face her lover again, no matter what the reaction was, and take whatever came.

"Aphra." Tolvan's face was blank and her voice toneless.

"Yes, sir!" Aphra said, with relish.

Her relish faded rapidly when Tolvan's face didn't so much as twitch. "You're not dead."

Aphra really was prepared to face Tolvan no matter what her reaction, but she had hoped for a bit more of a reaction than this.

"Er, yep. Not dead."

Aphra shuffled her feet. She really wished she hadn't chosen to do this in public. Particularly in a public part of a Rebel Alliance base. But she had been sure she only had a limited timeframe to do this before she got arrested, so she'd dashed out of her hiding place the moment she saw Tolvan crossing the square.

Tolvan swallowed. "I watched you die," she said, with a note of uncertainty in her voice.

"Ah. Yes. About that..."

"I _killed_ you!" Tolvan snarled.

Now people were definitely stopping to watch. Aphra estimated she had about two minutes before she was taken into custody. Less, if she didn't diffuse this thing with Tolvan quicker.

"You think you killed me, but you didn't," she said, quickly. "Look, the important thing is that I'm alive, right? And I'm here! We can be together! Nice job snagging a job with the Alliance, by the way, they can be kind of hard on imperials..."

Tolvan stepped forward and grabbed Aphra by the her collar, which meant Aphra had to try to hide a delighted sigh. "How do I know you're even real? What the hell were you doing?"

"I know exactly how far down your cybernetics go, and which bit you like me to touch when you're about to -"

She was cut short by Tolvan shaking her, which awkwardly made her knees go weak. She had to close her eyes for a moment to get it together.

_Honesty_ , she reminded herself. _I'm here to be honest._

"I love you," she said, quietly.

And there, that was what she'd hoped of, the thing she'd been afraid she'd never see again. The way Tolvan's hardened mask dropped for a moment with surprise and want and vulnerability, and she looked human. A human who cared. About Aphra.

A human who was still just holding her by the collar with several other Rebels pretending they weren't watching, after Aphra had just bared her soul and shit, and wasn't saying anything.

"Come on, sir, I know you love me too," Aphra hissed.

Tolvan frowned - adorably - so Aphra winked at her. Then Tolvan rolled her eyes, but there was the tiniest smile on her face and Aphra felt like punching the air and whooping when she said "Yes, I do."

"See, I knew it! Suck it, Trip."

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Uh huh." The smile was still there, that _oh, you_ smile that was better than the biggest profit she'd ever made. "I still have to arrest you, though, confessions of love and all."

"Oh sir, if you sweet talk me like that, you'd better follow through."

Tolvan shook her head, and she didn't let go of Aphra's wrist as she pulled her away, presumably to whatever holding cells the Rebels kept on this spit of a base. Because she liked her, of course. It wasn't just because she was under arrest. Who wouldn't trust Aphra to come willingly?

"So how _did_ you survive?" Tolvan asked, once they were in a quieter corridor with fewer prying eyes. "Because, you know, I shot you. And you did seem pretty dead."

_Honesty_ , Aphra reminded herself, as she looked into Tolvan's eyes and thought about how many times she'd dreamed of this day, how she wanted it more than any price on any job she'd ever done.

"I think Vader must have messed with your memory when you called him and he tried to take me prisoner. You know. The Force."

Tolvan paused and stared at her for a heart-stopping moment.

"That's appalling. I can't believe I pledged allegiance to an empire with that fool in power, thinking it would bring _order_."

"Oh yeah, me neither." Aphra swallowed. "Let's bring them down together, yeah?"


End file.
